Associate Professor Dr. Thayaparan Gajendran

Assistant Dean (Education/Work Integrated Learning), College of Engineering, Science and Environment, School of Architecture and Built Environment, Australia

Associate Professor Thayaparan Gajendran’s research focuses on the governance of organisations, using cultural analysis lenses, in construction and disaster management. His research is committed to developing evidence-based practices and policies for building resilience at the complex intersections between the communities and organisations’. He engages in extensive international research collaborations and has published more than 140 academic articles. A/Professor Gajendran is passionate about designing effective ‘teaching and learning programs in higher education.

He advocates ‘project and problem based blended learning’ approaches that enable engaged, deep and meaningful learning. He designed the ‘Masters of Disaster Preparedness and Reconstruction Program’ and developed numerous construction management courses. His learning and teaching contributions were recognized with two Vice Chancellor’s Citations and an Australian Learning Teaching Council Citation award. A/Professor Gajendran has held numerous service positions, including the Program Convener of Construction Management and Disaster Management programs, Chair of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment Ethics Committee, Chair of the methodological peer review committees and Acting Head of School.

A/Professor Gajendran has been a chief (co) investigator on several competitive grants. Before joining the University of Newcastle, Dr. Gajendran was a member of the team working on a one million Singapore dollars research and development project funded by the Building Construction Authority (BCA) and Productivity Standards Board (PSB) of Singapore, for exploring a prototype system for benchmarking site construction productivity.

A/Professor Gajendran has worked in the industry as a Project Quantity Surveyor and Manager Projects.